IPL Media Rights Auction Makes Tournament Second Most Lucrative After NFL

Star India had bought the complete media rights of the league from 2018 to 2022 for Rs 16,347.5 crore.

The IPL media rights for the next cycle is being auctioned. 

Image: BCCI

The much-awaited and talked about IPL media rights e-auction is over and with the price for the glitzy tournament's media rights going through the roof, it is now the second most expensive among all sporting leagues.

The IPL media rights for TV and digital for the cycle 2023-2027 were sold for Rs 48,390 crore after a three-day e-auction.

Here's how the broadcast deal for the IPL's next five seasons is structured. The tournament will have 3 broadcasters for the first time.

· Digital (India): Viacom18 (410 matches, Rs 50 cr/match)

· TV (India): Star Sports (410 matches, Rs 57.5 cr/match)

· Australia, South Africa, UK: Viacom18 (98 matches, Rs 33.24 cr/match)

· Rest of the world, US: Times Group (410 matches, Rs 2.6 cr/match)

The media rights for each match of the IPL from 2023 stands at Rs 118.02 crore, making it the second most lucrative sporting league in the world.

The NFL’s media rights is valued at Rs 136 crore per game, according to a 2020 Duff & Phelps comparison. And the NFL is at the top of the tree in terms of per match media rights valuation.

Third on the list is the most watched football league, the English Premier League where the media rights is valued at Rs 82 crore.

The Major League Baseball’s media rights were valued at Rs 75 crore with the Bundesliga (Rs 30 crore) and NBA (Rs 16 crore) wrapping up the top 6.

All the aforementioned figures are on a per-match basis. Star India had bought the complete media rights of the Indian Premier League from 2018 to 2022 for Rs 16,347.5 crore.

The Four packages:

Package A: Sole TV rights for the Indian subcontinent only - Star India.

Package B: Only Digital rights & exclusively for the Indian subcontinent - Viacom 18

Package C: Digital rights for a special bouquet of matches, including the playoffs, for the Indian subcontinent only - Viacom 18

Package D: Rights for the Rest of the World for both TV and digital, is divided into two sub-categories: Combined ROW or five individual regions - Viacom 18 and Times Internet